The biggest night on Ghana’s musical calendar has just ended and I would like to bring you a few analyses on some highlight moments they got right and things they could have done better.
As usual the Ghana Music Awards attracts lots of reaction before, during and after it has been held, as such this piece will be taking a critical look at the 17th edition of the Vodefone Ghana Music Awards.
Prior to the event lots of issues were raised and so I was looking forward to see if the board had really taken them into consideration.
Evidently, they tried to improve on the award scheme; before I begin I would like to say this year’s edition is arguably the best so far in terms of organization.
To make the points vivid, they’ve been broken down into sub-sections to make reading much easier.
Time Factor: For the first time in the history of the awards, the whole show lasted a little beyond four hours and to the surprise of patrons it ended at almost half past midnight. Yes that’s a surprise compared to the past 7-8hour long sessions we’ve had to witness at previous editions years down the line. One major obstacle the awards scheme has faced over the years was how time’s managed during the show. Before the show lots of concerns was raised about time considering the fact that the awards had merged both industry and main award presentations. Impressively, Charter house did live up to expectations though the show started a little over 7pm (red carpet session) with first performance starting at 8:26pm. The show officially ended at 12:30am. Generally, irrespective of the fact that there were a few delays, this year’s VGMA’s can boast of not prolonging the show.
Red Carpet: One section of the VGMAs that attracts lots of attention since its inception is the red carpet moment. The fashion conscious moment was slated to happen for just an hour and expected to start as early as 7pm, lasting for just an hour. Many wondered if Charter House could really pull it off. With Berla Mundi and Elias Chebib as main hosts the red carpet did see some smooth moments especially with Berla who was really poised for the occasion. On the other hand Elias had a few lapses, his interaction with personalities was sometimes boring, he was even found wanting on other occasions as he couldn’t identify names of certain celebs. To prevent that I think they should have had prompters, who will take names of every personality that steps on the red carpet and in turn relay it to the hosts before they interviewed them. We all know not all personalities are always in the public eye so identifying them may be problematic. Aside that, fashion wise I was expecting to see more African wear on the red carpet just a remainder for our celebs next time they choosing what to wear on the rep carpet.
Main Hosts: These days hosts have become sort of trademark for shows especially award ceremonies, sadly the VGMA’s couldn’t achieve such a feat at this year’s edition with Chris Attoh, Naa Ashorkor and DJ Black. To start with, I think the hosts for this year’s VGMA’s was more than necessary, besides they didn’t have enough time to dictate the show. Though we were all hyped about the MC’s before the show their execution on the night wasn’t a wow factor. With the exception of Naa Ashorkor who was a first timer, Chris Attoh and DJ Black had had the opportunity to previously host the grand event but on the night something was missing. With how time conscious organizers were this time around, the host should have been done by one person. Regardless, they did try their utmost with the little time they had.
Performances: This aspect of the awards is one of the most highlighted moments. Each year, fans are always poised to see who really nailed it on stage. Organizers made it clear every performance was going to be live band and indeed each artiste who mounted the stage to perform was prepared for it. From the top I think Joe Mettle really showed class, accompanied by Overflow Incoporation, they really did well. Efya as usual demonstrated why she is one of the most sought after female vocalist across the continent. EL’s opening act felt like eating a crispy fried chicken in a minute and craving for more, it was short but precise with style. Sarkodie once again proved his versatility, the way he executed his highlife performance alongside Akwaboah was sensational and what a way to end it with ‘Hand To Mouth’. Bisa Kdei is yet to have that mind blowing performance we’ve all been yearning from an artiste who has churned hit after hit over the past two years. It is evident Stonebwoy performing live has been one of his trademarks, cementing that affirmative he was in his element as the crowd sang along. When Omar Sterling aka Paedae stepped on stage you could see the excitement on his face, one could tell he was making claim to the fact he is on stage to rap and he held it down for a while before Mugeez joined him on stage to dish out classics from R2Bees. Summing up the performers, newbies Adomaa and Kinaata indicated a flicker of hope that the music industry has got potential talents ever ready to take the mantle from the big guns.
Awards: Most of the categories were fairly deserved by the winners with the exception of a few surprises. Honestly album of the year should have gone to Sarkodie for recording a live album. Aside from that, Producer of the year should have gone to Kaywa for his work on Bisa Kdei’s Mansa instead of EL. Hiphop song of the year clearly should have gone to Omar Sterling, he rejuvenated hiphop in his own way with Nineteen Ninety, it made people reconsider how judgemental they had being about his lyrical prowess over the years and that was worth rewarding. For the ultimate, EL was one of the favourites and it is only right to see him crowned artiste of the year. Bisa Kdei had a shot at the most coveted award too but I think his personality lacked a bit of weight which swayed the award in EL’s direction. Bisa Kdei is a fine artiste and I believe if he keeps on going this way in a couple of years he will be one of the most formidable forces in the music industry. Though the awards were handed out in neat fashion, one category that exposed organisers was how they presented the Life Time Achievement Award to highlife legend AB Crenstil. What makes this sort of category special isn’t about plaques but the way it is presented, the prelude and honorary performance that comes with it like we see at the Grammy’s and Oscars was total missing here. It felt disrespectful especially when all the crowd could do was sit and stare and that can be partly blamed on how the VGMAs prepared AB Crenstil’s reception. I hope they put in more next time.
Event Coordination: This year’s VGMAs was far from last years cluttered photographers in front of the stage to countless performances that wade the awards way into the mornings to campaign speech like moments by award presenters to the wondering of artistes followers. It was evident Charter House had been taking into consideration all the complaints meted out over the years. Though the stage did receive mixed reaction the set up was much improved. However one low point was some front section reserved seats that were still empty hours into the show. I think organizers should have considered using seat fillers for the sake of TV. In a nutshell, the awards was greatly improved even to the extent that hosts came out to give closing remarks which was usually non-existent due to patrons crowding the stage after Artiste of the year had been announced.
Summary: The journey hasn’t been easy for Charter House and I must say they have really upped the awards status quo. The 17th edition was televised on DSTV a pan- African TV channel that allowed millions across Africa to watch our top-notch acts perform. It is also one of the schemes still going strong, the awards just marked 17years since its inception and looks to have now steered into gear. I would like to pat on the back for putting together such a wonderful work and we look forward to more nights of such brilliance. Kudos!
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Date | 10th May, 2016
By: Bernard Doe
